Donald Trump’s opponents for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination weighed in on the notice he received from special counsel Jack Smith that signals his possible indictment in the 2020 election investigation.
The former president confirmed on social media that he’s received a target letter on Sunday from Smith.
Investigators have been asking questions about Trump’s state of mind and actions on January 6, 2021, when protestors demonstrated in support of his election claims at the U.S. Capitol.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement that the events of January 6 should disqualify the GOP frontrunner.
“As a former federal prosecutor, I understand the severity of Grand Jury investigations and what it means to be targeted by such an investigation,” Hutchinson said.
“Donald Trump has confirmed that he is a target of this investigation and will likely be indicted once again,” Hutchinson went on. “While Donald Trump would like the American people to believe that he is the victim in this situation, the truth is that the real victims of January 6th were our democracy, our rule of law, and those Capitol Police officers who worked valiantly to protect our Capitol.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s closest challenger in polling, was campaigning on Tuesday in South Carolina. He said he did not know the details of the letter and spoke generally about the politicization of the Justice Department and the FBI.
“I can’t speak about that because I haven’t seen it,” DeSantis said. “I can tell you one of my jobs as president will be to end the weaponization of these agencies. I will get that job done.”
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said the new potential charges are “different from any of the other prior indictments against Trump.”
“This one, under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, could disqualify President Trump from either running for U.S. president or potentially even being removed as U.S. president if he is elected. Either sets a dangerous precedent here,” Ramaswamy said, according to Fox News.
Some members of Congress also commented, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who slammed the special counsel.
“It’s absolute bulls—. That’s my reaction,” Greene told CSPAN. “This is the only way that the Democrats have to beat President Trump is to arrest him, smear him, charge him with ridiculous charges, all in a cover-up of Joe Biden’s crimes, Hunter Biden’s crimes. It’s unbelievable, it’s hard to even recognize that this is our country.
“The American people are going to be furious. And what Jack Smith is doing is weaponized government and he’s weaponizing the Department of Justice against President Trump in a complete lie about President Trump and January 6. And it’s outrageous, I can’t believe our country has to endure this. And I’ll be standing with President Trump the entire way,” she added.